Season 22
The twenty-second season (going under the name Big World! Big Adventures!) of Thomas & Friends started airing on 3 September 2018 in the UK and on 17 September 2018 in the US. It is expected to be released on Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon. Production Season 22 marks the first major "reboot" of the franchise since the show switched to full CGI in the thirteenth season. The episodes keep their eleven minute-long runtime, but are now broken into seven minute-long stories, with an additional four minutes reserved for a variety of segments like sing-along karaoke songs, music videos or Thomas talking directly with the audience about lessons learned during a particular episode. Among many other changes, Edward and Henry were removed from the Steam Team to make room for Nia and Rebecca, and the narrator has been replaced with Thomas talking to the audience (however, Mark Moraghan has said that he will still work on the series). Season 22 is set after Big World! Big Adventures!. The season is split into two halves; one half sees Thomas travelling around the world and visiting China, India and Australia, while the second half takes place back on the Island of Sodor. The season will also be released on Netflix, Amazon and Hulu in the fall of 2018. Season 23 Episodes # Number One Engine - Thomas is in China, where another blue tank engine named Hong-Mei is the number one engine on the national railway. Hong-Mei challenges Thomas to a race and wins, so Thomas is determined to beat her in a second race. But when he takes a short cut along the steep mountain pass, he hits a rock on the line and derails. # Forever and Ever - Gordon is so upset about Sir Topham Hatt's decision to move Edward and Henry out of the sheds that he makes his own changes in protest. Sent back to his shed in disgrace, Gordon insists that he's happy to stay there forever, but his new friend Nia helps him to take a fresh look at the situation. # Confusion Without Delay - Rebecca, the big tender engine, surprises Sir Topham by arriving early on the island. After all the other engines tell her how fast and useful they are, Rebecca wants to impress them too. But she tries so hard that she turns up too early for the passengers and leaves early too! # Trusty Trunky - Thomas is working on the Indian Railway. He's amazed by all the animals on top of trains, cows sleeping on the track and elephants wandering around the countryside! He disapproves when his friend Ashima tells him that elephants used to help shunt the carriages, but when Thomas ends up derailed in a paddy field, it's not an engine that comes to his rescue. # What Rebecca Does - Rebecca is so impressed by Belle putting out a fire with her water cannons, Marion's steam shovel and Harvey's crane that her enthusiasm makes her friends feel very good about themselves. But she can't help wondering if she has any special qualities too? # Thomas Goes to Bollywood - A Bollywood action movie is being filmed on the Indian Railway! Thomas is told that they have a very important role for him, but it is only to transport the lead actor, not to be in the film. However, he finds that it's fun and he can be really useful working behind the scenes - and later he gets a chance to be in the movie after all. # Thomas in the Wild - Thomas is taking a film crew to a nature reserve in China to make a film about giant pandas. He is very excited by the prospect of seeing one in the wild, but he's not sure what they look like so he slows down every time he thinks he sees one. He sees a lot of different wild animals, but will they get to the nature reserve before it's too dark to film? # Thomas and the Monkey Palace - In India, Thomas is on his way to deliver a truckload of coconuts, when he discovers a branch line leading to a mysterious monkey temple. Ignoring Rajiv's warning to stay clear, he visits it at night and a cheeky monkey gets trapped in the truck. When it tries to attract Thomas's attention, Thomas crashes and spills all the coconuts. # An Engine of Many Colours - In Sodor, James needs to be repaired after a crash, but hears that there might not be enough red paint. That night he has a succession of dreams about being repainted different colours. Each colour seems fine once he gets used to it and even makes him more splendid. But each time that James starts to show off, he dreams that he has another crash. # Outback Thomas - In Australia, Shane is taking passengers on an outback adventure. He impresses Thomas so much with his showmanship that when some passengers miss Shane's train, Thomas decides to become an outback tour guide himself - with disastrous consequences. # School of Duck - When a storm destroys the classroom at Harwick School, all the children have to be brought by train to Knapford for their lessons. Duck is keen to do the job, but he needs a coach. After searching all over Sodor, he finds Dexter, a rusty old restaurant car in an old overgrown siding. # Tiger Trouble - Thomas and Rajiv both take a detour through the Indian jungle in order to see some tigers. But when Thomas spots that Rajiv's passengers have an empty tiger cage with them, he sets out with the help of Rajiv and Shankar to find the tigers and make sure that none of them are captured. # Seeing is Believing - Thomas's friend Merlin the stealth engine comes to Sodor from the mainland for the first time. He thinks that when he shuts his eyes nobody else can see him. Percy hears everybody talking about the 'invisible' engine, and wonders why he hasn't seen him. But how can you tell that you've seen an engine that's invisible? # Apology Impossible - Fed up with the other engines pushing him around, Philip refuses to give way when he and James end up facing each other on a one-track bridge. As James refuses too, it's stalemate. But with engines stacked up behind them and the bridge in danger of collapsing, Philip decides that sometimes the littlest engine can actually be the bigger engine! # The Water Wheel - Hong-Mei tells Thomas that the water wheel he is carrying is made from bamboo and is very important. But in his eagerness to discover other things made from bamboo, Thomas forgets about his mission and ends up taking a shortcut via a low bridge, which knocks the water wheel off his flatbed and sends it rolling off across the Chinese countryside! # Samson and the Fireworks # The Case of the Puzzling Parts # Runaway Car # Kangaroo Christmas # Thomas and the Dragon # Rosie is Red # Thomas' Animal Ark # Hunt the Truck # Cyclone Thomas # Banjo and the Bushfire # Counting on Nia Characters * Thomas * Edward * Henry * Gordon * James * Percy * Toby * Duck * Emily * Nia * Rosie * Daisy * Salty * Harvey * Porter * Cranky * Carly * Belle * Flying Scotsman * Marion * Merlin * Trevor * Bill and Ben * Whiff * Diesel * Paxton * Sidney * Daisy * Dart * Philip * Shane * Yong Bao * The Chinese Diesel * The Male Chinese Breakdown Crane * Ashima * Rajiv * Shankar * Henrietta * Bradford * Hannah * Spencer * Stanley * Samson * Rocky * Judy and Jerome * Sir Topham Hatt * Lady Hatt * Dowager Hatt * The Duke and Duchess of Boxford * Headkeeper Jack * The Teacher * The Lady with the Big Hat * The Blond-haired Boy * Samson's Driver * The Grey Tender Engine (does not speak) * The Slip Coaches (do not speak) * Stephen (cameo) * Scruff (cameo) * Skiff (cameo) * Winston (cameo) * Charlie (cameo) * Luke (cameo) * Owen (cameo) * Peter Sam (cameo) * Duncan (cameo) * Jack (cameo) * Big Mickey (cameo) * Jem Cole (cameo) Characters Introduced * Rebecca * Hong-Mei * Noor Jehan * Shankar * Tamika * Dexter * Isla * Lei * Charubala * An An and Yin-Long * Aubrey and Aiden * Madeleine * Madeleine's Parents * Ranger Jill * Dr. Claire Trivia * This is the first season to not feature a narrator. * The first season where Stephen, Luke and Big Mickey appear, but do not speak since their introductions. * The first season where the Sodor Search and Rescue Centre, Arlesburgh and Aresdale Railway do not appear since their introductions. ** The first season since returning in the twenty-first season where Terence does not appear since his introduction in the first season. ** The first season since returning in Misty Island Rescue where Harold does not appear since his introduction in the second season. ** The first season since returning in the twenty-first season where Bulgy does not appear since his introduction in the third season. ** The first season in which Flynn does not appear since his introduction in Day of the Diesels. * This season marks the only of a couple of things: ** The only season to date in which Bertie does not appear since his introduction in the first season. ** The only season to date in which Mavis does not appear since his introduction in the third season. ** The only season to date in which Stafford does not appear since his introduction in the sixteenth season. ** The only season to date in which Norman does not appear since his introduction in Day of the Diesels. ** The only season to date in which Glynn does not appear since his introduction in The Adventure Begins. ** The only season to date in which Mike does not appear since his introduction in Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure. * This is the first season since Season 19 to feature 26 episodes * This is The first season since season 12 to feature episodes running for 7 Minutes Long